Pillow cutting extruder machine

ABSTRACT

The pillow cutter of a food product extrusion system is provided with motor driven roller means designed to pull filled, or unfilled, extrusions, including hollow tubes, or ropes, of extruded food material from the extrusion die head. The ropes are then cut in various shapes such as square, diamond or triangle pillows, sticks or bars. The roller means constitute rotatable base rollers sized to effect telescopic assembly with removable, interchangeable, tubular, cylindrical cutter sleeves engraved on the outer peripheral surface of the sleeves with variable cutting patterns so the user of the system can optionally change the cutting patterns by selective choice of cutter sleeves.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates generally to food extrusion machines for making food products such as snack foods, pastas, cereals and pet food, and more particularly to a pillow cutting system for such a machine utilizing removable, interchangeable cutting sleeves telescopically mounted on motor driven base rollers.

[0003] 2. The Prior Art

[0004] The prior art is exemplified by machines currently manufactured and sold by the assignee of the present invention, American Extrusion International, Inc. A typical process utilizing such a system has a pair of pillow cutter rollers forming a nip and designed to receive and pull ropes of extruded raw material from the extrusion head of the machine. The rollers are electroless nickel plated cylindrical articles with patterns engraved on the confronting peripheral faces of the rollers. In operation, the rollers cut the extruding ropes into square or triangular pillows. Long or short filled bars can also be created with the same system.

[0005] In order to achieve a change of the pillow patterns, it is necessary to replace the entire set of rollers. Consequently, to effect such a change, the pillow cutter machine must be virtually disassembled, the pillow rollers removed, and an entirely new set of rollers installed. That is a time consuming and laborious task which is expensive and necessitates the requirement of stocking different matching sets of costly nickel plated rollers, or, acquiring an entirely separate pillow cutter machine, if and when a different cutting pattern is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0006] A single set of rollers consisting of two base rollers are provided which can be permanently mounted in the pillow cutting machine. In accordance with this invention, a plurality of sets of removable, interchangeable, cylindrical sleeves are provided. Each sleeve is sized and shaped so that it may be selectively assembled or disassembled from a corresponding base roller with great facility and convenience simply by telescopically fitting and sliding the sleeve on to the base roller. The sleeves and the base rollers are keyed with appropriate piloting means so that proper pilot orientation and timing are insured.

[0007] The individual sleeves have engraved peripheral surfaces to provide individually selectable patterns. Thus, the user may produce cut products in whatever shape is desired; square pillows, triangular pillows, long bars, short bars, sticks, diamonds, bell shapes or repetitive patterns of other geometric shapes and of bigger or smaller sizes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008]FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a typical bake type extrusion line with a pillow cutter of the present invention.

[0009]FIG. 2 is a plan elevational view of the extrusion line of FIG. 1.

[0010]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a pillow cutter component utilized in the extrusion line of FIGS. 1 and 2, but with parts removed to show additional details of construction.

[0011]FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the pillow cutter component of FIG. 3.

[0012]FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of the pillow cutter component of FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0013]FIG. 6 is a perspective view generally similar to FIG. 3, but illustrating the pillow cutter assembly.

[0014]FIG. 7 is front elevational view of the assembly of FIG. 6.

[0015]FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial view showing a close up of the pillow cutter rollers of the present invention, but with parts broken away and with sleeve parts shown in exploded arrangement to illustrate additional features of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a vertical mixer 11 adds moisture to raw material, such as corn, prior to being conveyed by a bucket elevator 12 to an extruder hopper 13. The extruder 13 gelatinizes the raw material and forms a tube of extruded material “T” through a die opening, or gap provided by a die head 18.

[0017] During the process, a positive displacement pump 16 receives a filling material, such as a cream filling, from a mixing tank 15 and forces the cream filling through the center of the tube “T” created by the die head 18 of the extruder 13.

[0018] The coextrusion action takes place within the die head 18 which is a specially configured die at the head of the extruder 13. As the filled tube “T” exits the die head 18 of the extruder 13, it resembles a rope which may be physically grasped by the operator of the machine and fed into and through one of a plurality of inlet guide openings 20 formed in a front wall 21 of the pillow cutter machine 14. The function of the pillow cutter machine 14 is to shape the product and discharge the shaped product on to a conveyor 22 which has a horizontal incline section 23 suitable for discharging the final product as at 17 into a subsequent down stream station of the product processing stream.

[0019] Referring specifically to FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 8, instead of the usual unitary pillow cutter rollers of the prior art, there is provided a two-element roller means. The first element consists of a pair of base rollers 30 and 31 which are mounted in the pillow cutter machine 14 and are rotatably driven by an electric motor 32 mechanically coupled to the base rollers 30 and 31 by a suitable power train 33.

[0020] In further accordance with this invention, a second element of the roller means is provided in the form of a plurality of individual, removable, interchangeable, cylindrical sleeves, preferably paired in sets of two, so as to be complemental to one another. For purposes of clarity, each separate sleeve is designated by the same reference number 35. It is contemplated that each sleeve 35 will be formed as a cylindrical tube having an inside diameter sized for a telescopic slide-on assembly with a corresponding base roller 30 and 31 having an outside diameter of complemental size. The length of each tube 35 is preferably proportioned to be a fractional relationship of the axial length of the base rollers, so that a plurality of paired tubes 35 may be assembled on the peripheral surfaces extending from end-to-end of the base rollers 30 and 31.

[0021] The outside diameter of each sleeve 35 is nickel plated and engraved with a pattern corresponding to a desired cutting pattern. It will be understood that paired sleeves 35 will be engraved with matching patterns so that they may be installed on the upper and lower base rollers 30 and 31 for mutually compatible operation.

[0022] As shown in the drawings, each sleeve 35 and each base roller 30 and 31 is provided with pilot keying means 40 to insure proper orientation of the cutting patterns and timing of the roller rotation.

[0023] In operation, the pillow cutter 14 by means of the nip formed between two engaging sleeves 35 mounted on the base rollers 30 and 31 will pull filled ropes of the extruded product “T” from the extrusion die head 18 of the extruder 13. The ropes, whether filled, or unfilled, will then be cut in various shapes depending on the choice of the sleeves 35 mounted on the base rollers 30 and 31; square, diamond or triangle pillows, sticks or bars. These products can then be packaged or coated, for example, with chocolate, prior to packaging.

[0024] By utilizing an appropriate formula for the extruded material, the products do not require being baked. Finished product moisture is at a level which gives a similar crispiness and shelf life to products like wafer and cereals.

[0025] The pillow cutter machine 14 comprises a stand which is mounted on legs 50 which include screw threaded height adjustment means 51 and castered wheels 52. The machine 14 is both portable and adjustable and may be incorporated in, or removed from, an extrusion system line at will. It should also be noted that with the use of multiple interchangeable sleeves 35, the line can be established with multiple extrusion die heads 18 so that a corresponding plurality of separate extruded products can be extruded simultaneously, formed into “T” shaped ropes, and fed into spaced apart openings 20 in the wall 21 for independent cutting in different patterns by the sleeves 35 on the base rollers 30 and 31.

[0026] Although minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art. 

I claim as my invention:
 1. In a pillow cutter of the type that pulls ropes of extruded material from the extrusion head of an extruder, the improvement of a pair of base rollers permanently mounted in the pillow cutter, removable, interchangeable sleeves telescopically assembled and mounted on said base rollers, each said sleeve comprising a tubular cylindrical article having an inside diameter sized to telescopically fit on a corresponding base roller, and each said sleeve having an outer peripheral surface engraved with a cutting pattern selected from the group of geometric patterns including square, diamond, bell, and triangle pillows, sticks and bars, whereby the user may achieve selective pattern changes by interchanging the sleeves on the base rollers.
 2. A pillow cutting system in an extrusion line for extruding food products such as snack foods, pastas, cereals and pet food, comprising, a vertical mixer having means for adding moisture to raw material such as corn, a bucket elevator for conveying the raw material from the vertical mixer, an extruder hopper receiving the raw material from the bucket elevator, an extruder fed by said hopper having means for gelatinizing the raw material and for forming a tube through an extrusion die head and discharging the tube in the form of a continuous rope, a pillow cutter having a roller nip pulling the rope from the extrusion die head, said pillow cutter having a pair of fixed base rollers rotatably mounted and motor driven, and removable interchangeable tubular cutter sleeves telescopically mounted and carried on said fixed base rollers, each said cutter sleeve having a peripheral surface formed with a cutting pattern so that paired sets of cutter sleeves may be interchangeably selected to selectively change the cutting patterns forming the final product.
 3. An extrusion system as defined in claim 2, a mixing tank having a cream filling, a positive displacement pump receiving cream filling from said tank, said pump forcing the cream through the center of the tube created by the extruder die head, whereby the co-extrusion action of the tube and the cream provides a filled rope to the pillow cutter and the final product will constitute filled geometric shapes.
 4. A pillow cutter for the extrusion line of a food processing system, motor driven roller means, and interchangeable tubular cylindrical sleeves telescopically and removable mounted on said roller means, said sleeves having selected cutting patterns formed on the outer peripheral surfaces thereof so that the user may optionally change the cutting patterns by removing and changing the sleeves on the roller means.
 5. An extrusion system for extruding food products comprising, an extruder having a die head gap through which raw material is extruded and discharged in the form of a rope, and a cutting means for cutting and shaping the rope into selected shapes selected from the group of geometric patterns including square, round, diamond and triangle patterns, and sticks and bars, said cutting means comprising a set of rotatable motor driven base rollers, and a plurality of removable, interchangeable, cylindrical, tubular sleeves slidably telescopically mounted on said base rollers, said sleeves having cutting patterns formed on the outer peripheral surfaces thereof, whereby different cutting patterns may be selectively chosen by changing sleeves on the base rollers.
 6. An extrusion machine as defined in claim 5 and further characterized by keying means between said base rollers and said sleeves to insure proper piloting orientation and timing.
 7. Cutting means for an extrusion line pillow cutter comprising a set of base rollers adapted to be motor driven rotationally, a plurality of sleeves, each sleeve being a tubular cylindrical article having an inside diameter sized to telescopically slide into co-rotatable assembly on the periphery of a corresponding one of said base rollers, each pair of matched sleeves forming together with one another a cutting nip for pulling and cutting a rope of extruded material from the extrusion head in various shapes.
 8. Cutting means as defined in claim 8 wherein said sleeves have peripheral surfaces formed and shaped to define cutting surfaces selected from the group including square, round, diamond, and triangle configurations, and sticks and bars.
 9. Cutting means as defined in claim 9 and guide means in pre-set alignment with said cutting surfaces for directing a rope into the nip of a selected pair of sleeves.
 10. Cutting means as defined in claim 10 wherein said guide means has a plurality of guide openings and said base rollers have a corresponding plurality of sets of sleeves so that a plurality of ropes are cut in different patterns simultaneously. 